Josh Ortega, the lead writer on Gears of War 2, has assured Joystiq in an interview that GoW2 will have an ending that offers both fulfilment and closure to the sequel. Apparently Josh has trained in PR-Speak 101 because he reiterated his statement by saying that while the sequel will have closure it won't bring the Gears of War story to a halt.

When asked if Gears 2's storyline will follow in the footsteps of a game like Halo 2 and its unsatisfying cliffhanger, Ortega comforted our worries by admitting that players will "get nice closure." But not too much closure, because Ortega was also quick to acknowledge fact that he didn't want to end Gears 2 "too much where there couldn't be room to expand should you decide to." Because that would totally put a damper on any trilogy hopes. So, no unsatisfying Halo 2-style ending, a sense of fulfillment and room to grow the Gears franchise? Sounds like a campaign winner to us. -- Joystiq

Yes, I know. A game writer stating that the game he wrote won't have a bad ending is probably not a huge surprise, but could this be the first shot fired in the death of the cliffhanger? It seems that every time I buy a game these days, I've already mentally prepared myself for the ending to be a setup for the sequel. It's an easy way out for most developers, and it could really end badly if the game turns out to be a flop. Ask any fan of Too Human (even though I'm sure we'll see a sequel) or Psychonauts.